Of the 4 teams that have played 13 games this year, only Washington can be said to be having a solid start to the season with a .731 points %. Arguably, they've had the easiest schedule with games against: St. Louis, NYI, Carolina, Dallas, Nashville, Dallas, Colorado, Toronto, NYR, Chicago, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver with two back to backs, they being Carolina (at home) and Vancouver (away). Congrats to them for their strong start.
Toronto and Calgary have both managed a .538 rate, while Dallas is pulling up the rear with a .346 %.
Curiously, the teams who have played 12 games this season are not fairing exceptionally well either, averaging .583 %. With Buffalo leading the way at an avg. of .792 % and Edmonton following with .708 % mark, can we expect either to remain at this clip throughout? I think not.
My point being: playing a lot of games at the beginning of the season is no easy task and that a hot or cold start can be deceiving. Some teams will regress and others will surge. The sample size is too small for us to accurately judge a team's merits.
In Toronto's case, we're a thrown stick away from being tied with our record at this point last year. This happening with 3 regulars injured, our goalies yet to provide us with their best, a roster that on some nights has seen close to a 40% turnover from last April, 3 brand new defense pairings and (to keep the majority happy
) a coach who many believe is unsuitable to the job. Other 'excuses' could be offered: back to backs, slow starts, lack of physical players etc. However, perhaps we may wish to reconsider, just for a moment, that this team is a tire sale. We have won more than we've lost, we should be at least one win better (Kappy, that's on you), we still see a team that is gifted with offense, we've not had a chance to work with what most would consider to be our full line-up and our collective 'effort'/givea*hit' has been weak. Realistically, can we expect more?
Imho, the answer is yes. The returns of Dermott, Hyman and Tavares will have positive effects, even while constraining our roster size due to cap realities. I expect our goaltending to improve. Matthews and Marner, especially, will return to being more dedicated hockey players. Our D pairings will improve with Dermott's return and increased practice time and our offense will certainly go up with the returns of Zach and Johnny T.
I certainly understand the angst many feel when reviewing the Leafs body of work this year, it's been lacking. Especially the efforts displayed. It's not been good enough. However, this team has undergone a large make-over and hasn't had the benefit of a full roster since day one, while being tied for playing the most games to date in the league. I think they need the benefit of seeing them perform with all hands on deck while having more than 13 games into a season before the long knives come out. Yes, there are areas of concern and areas where all need to be held more accountable. But, let's step back from the edge of our psychological collapse, at least until we've given the team a chance to show us over a 25-30 game period that all the fear and loathing was deserved.
Toronto and Calgary have both managed a .538 rate, while Dallas is pulling up the rear with a .346 %.
Curiously, the teams who have played 12 games this season are not fairing exceptionally well either, averaging .583 %. With Buffalo leading the way at an avg. of .792 % and Edmonton following with .708 % mark, can we expect either to remain at this clip throughout? I think not.
My point being: playing a lot of games at the beginning of the season is no easy task and that a hot or cold start can be deceiving. Some teams will regress and others will surge. The sample size is too small for us to accurately judge a team's merits.
In Toronto's case, we're a thrown stick away from being tied with our record at this point last year. This happening with 3 regulars injured, our goalies yet to provide us with their best, a roster that on some nights has seen close to a 40% turnover from last April, 3 brand new defense pairings and (to keep the majority happy
) a coach who many believe is unsuitable to the job. Other 'excuses' could be offered: back to backs, slow starts, lack of physical players etc. However, perhaps we may wish to reconsider, just for a moment, that this team is a tire sale. We have won more than we've lost, we should be at least one win better (Kappy, that's on you), we still see a team that is gifted with offense, we've not had a chance to work with what most would consider to be our full line-up and our collective 'effort'/givea*hit' has been weak. Realistically, can we expect more?Imho, the answer is yes. The returns of Dermott, Hyman and Tavares will have positive effects, even while constraining our roster size due to cap realities. I expect our goaltending to improve. Matthews and Marner, especially, will return to being more dedicated hockey players. Our D pairings will improve with Dermott's return and increased practice time and our offense will certainly go up with the returns of Zach and Johnny T.
I certainly understand the angst many feel when reviewing the Leafs body of work this year, it's been lacking. Especially the efforts displayed. It's not been good enough. However, this team has undergone a large make-over and hasn't had the benefit of a full roster since day one, while being tied for playing the most games to date in the league. I think they need the benefit of seeing them perform with all hands on deck while having more than 13 games into a season before the long knives come out. Yes, there are areas of concern and areas where all need to be held more accountable. But, let's step back from the edge of our psychological collapse, at least until we've given the team a chance to show us over a 25-30 game period that all the fear and loathing was deserved.
